Five Fast Leadership Lessons From The Head of the Red Cross

When it comes to mobilizing and motivating large numbers of people to do great things, Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, has important lessons to share.

In a typical year, the Red Cross responds to more than 62,000 disasters large and small, from home fires caused by cooking accidents to hurricanes that ravage cities. It collects about 6.6 million units of blood—40% of the nation’s blood supply—each year, all from volunteer donors. It also provides emergency communications services to members of the armed forces and their families, installs free smoke alarms in struggling communities, and plays an important role in the Measles & Rubella Initiative. To face these emergencies the Red Cross mobilizes its 25,000 employees and an army of more than 375,000 volunteers.

Now, thanks to Gail’s leadership, the Red Cross is in a better position than ever to help the thousands of people who depend on it every year. 

The Red Cross had never wavered in its humanitarian mission, but when Gail joined the organization in 2008 she saw that changes needed to be made. The organization, as she described it during a Fidelity Charitable event this spring, was fragmented and in financial distress. There was a mountain a debt. Each of its 720 local chapters had its own marketing, procurement, benefits programs and IT operations. Best practices weren’t being shared. There was a collapse in prices for supplying blood to hospital operating rooms and too many blood centers in operation. “We are humanitarians,” Gail told us. “We love helping people. But our system didn’t prepare our people to help each other.”

With business and team-building chops honed as a professor at Harvard Business School, president of Fidelity Investments’ retail business and an executive vice president of AT&T’s Consumer Markets Division, Gail was exactly the turnaround agent the Red Cross needed. 

There was, as Gail acknowledges, some rough sailing before things got better. She reduced staff size, a painful strategy at any organization, and began the process of centralizing functions. She consolidated audits and streamlined procurement. Bottom line: After two years under Gail’s leadership, the American Red Cross was breaking even again.

By any standard, the speed, focus and imagination Gail brings to every effort is remarkable. Here are some of my takeaways from her leadership approach:

Tap the Right People           

“I have two real talents,” says Gail. “I pick great people—and then I nag them.” The great people part is certainly true. She’s known for prizing the importance of chemistry on a tight team and is a great believer in never settling for someone who isn’t the perfect candidate. She will simply leave a position open and say: “We’ll limp along and make something work until the right talent comes along.”

Work Smarter

I love the mission of the Red Cross, which is to “alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. ” Gail and her team put a great deal of thought into this and reoriented the organization’s approach to mobilizing those volunteers. Instead of routinely putting volunteers through time-consuming (and expensive) training, they now ask volunteers what their skills are—and instant background checks get these folks into the field quickly. While Gail is rigorous when it comes to hiring talent to work in the office, she says that “anyone who wants to volunteer is a good volunteer.” At a time when so many people are so busy, she feels that if they are willing to donate their time, let’s help them do that.

Seek a Diversity of Opinion

To Gail, a successful team is a team that’s both tightly knit and has a place for contrarians. “My team,” she says, “is having a big debate all time.” And she’s quick to remind us that, “like-minded people will like one another, work well together, agree on everything, and then link arms and march off a cliff.”

Make Your People Part of Your Mission

This is obvious in an organization like the Red Cross that depends on motivating a massive number of  volunteers, but it translates into every business. There is a cohesion and an extra energy in the workplace when people feel included and that their voices are being heard. Participating in the decision-making process helps people feel like they are truly part of something. They then become more willing to carry on and share the message and mission of the organization, whatever it may be.    

Course-Correct Quickly

We all understand that the times we’re living in require embracing change and responding nimbly to unforeseen challenges. What Gail has discovered, she says, is that most people actually welcome change, even if it requires difficult decisions, once the reasoning is explained to them. What they hate is uncertainty—which is why leaders need to be decisive and know when it’s necessary to lead a company in a new direction or in a different way. And they have to be crystal clear in communicating those decisions.

But make sure to lead from the head and the heart. There are times when pie charts won’t help get the point across. Numbers supported by real stories is how we can drive change.

My team was struck by Gail’s insights when she spoke to us in Durham. I came away impressed with something else, too: her strength. She raved about how great it was to see us under “blue skies”—a reminder that she so often deals with helping people recover from destruction. I was touched to see that she can still appreciate the wonder of everyday moments and be so grateful to find them wherever she can.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to donate blood in honor of World Blood Donor Day!

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